9. Britt

9

brITT

" C an you help me get the bins to my house?"

"Huh?" Though we're back in the gym, Adrian still looks dazed from our kiss in the basement. Who knows what could have happened if Liz hadn't interrupted us? What would he have said? What would I have said?

Dingy basement or not, I would've agreed to anything he asked of me.

I don't know what he feels, but I'm not planning on telling him I'm madly in love with him. I know he wants me, physically at least. I could feel it when we danced behind the curtain. When we kissed in the basement.

"Can you help me? Load them into my car?" I nod at the stack of bins filled with lights and decorations. "And into my house?"

Oh god. What am I doing? But I know. I know exactly what I'm doing right now.

I know what I want.

"Your house?" His eyes grow wide. Wider.

"Yes." I bite my lip and grin at him, head tilted. Am I being charming and seductive? That's the goal. "Get in your car and follow me home, then help me unload the lights. Into my house."

My house, where we'll be alone. My house, that has my bed in it.

He blinks, examining my face, trying to figure out if this is something more than it seems to be.

As usual, I realize this is the wrong way to do things. There will be no going back after spending the night with Adrian, but I'll worry about that tomorrow. For now, there's some kind of magic happening between us. Sparks and spells and a huge freaking bonfire.

I can't let this chance slip by.

Now I know my separation from Adrian and Reese didn't work. Without them—without him —my feelings only grew, like invasive weeds in an untended garden.

Or maybe it's more beautiful than simple weeds.

Maybe it's more like beautiful wildflowers.

I direct him to my car with the five giant bins, which don't fit in my mid-sized trunk, so he sticks them in the back of his SUV.

Do I have to take the bins home? Probably not. I made up the part about the school being really strict about leaving stuff in the gym.

Could they have sat there until something else was arranged?

Yup, they sure could've.

But this way, I have an excuse to take Adrian home, along with the bins. I'm sick of waiting. I'm sick of feeling bad about myself.

One night together.

That's all this will be. That's all we can have.

I press the garage door opener, but as usual, the battery is cranky so it doesn't work. Adrian jumps out of his car and strides up, tapping my code into the keypad. This man knows my garage code, for fuck's sake. I slip out of the car.

"You should really change that once in a while." He grins.

I shrug, my face flushing. He's always been able to come and go. And I really like that idea.

Adrian unloads the bins into my one-car garage, then wordlessly follows me through the door to the main part of my house. By the time I stop in the middle of the kitchen, my chest is thumping and I'm questioning whether he wants to be here or if he'll even want to kiss me again.

But I no longer wonder if I'm doing the right thing. I know the answer to that.

"Want a drink?" I fiddle with the zipper on my coat. A soft light spills in from the lit Christmas tree in my family room, and holiday music from one of my smart devices echos softly throughout the house.

He nods and slips off his own jacket while I pull a bottle of red wine from the small wine rack on my kitchen counter. As I open the bottle, he grabs stemmed glasses from the correct cabinet on the first try.

In silence, I pour the wine, and we both drink, our eyes locked. I gnaw on my bottom lip and slip my jacket off, hanging it on the counter stool, aware of all my bare skin.

Adrian's eyes roam over my body. Am I brave enough to do this? To seduce Adrian?

"You look beautiful tonight." He repeats his earlier compliment, a slight wobble in his voice.

I swallow and slide my glass onto the counter, stepping toward him until I'm a foot away. His pupils expand when I take the glass out of his hands and push it onto the counter.

It's now or never.

"You said that already." My voice is a whisper.

I reach behind me to grab the zipper on my dress, then tug it down. His eyes bulge, mouth dropping open with the crackle of the zipper. Feeling bolder than I ever have, I push the dress down to uncover my bare breasts, then wiggle it over my hips and onto the floor in a heap.

I'm standing in front of him wearing nothing but four-inch heels and white lace underwear already soaked with desire for him.

His eyes roam my body, landing on my breasts, roving over the curve of my hips and the length of my legs.

Adrian moans and steps forward. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He ravishes my body with his stare.

I breathe in and out, my chest rising and falling. He wants to be with me. Physically, of course. I'll take it. There's a throbbing ache in my nipples and between my legs. I can't believe this is happening. After all the yearning, all the angst, and the unrequited feelings, here we are.

Even if it's just for tonight.

"Adrian," I whisper and reach out to him, placing my hands on his chest. If he doesn't touch me soon, I'm going to explode.

"I..." He stops himself from saying more and instead lowers his face to mine, covering my mouth with his, sliding his hands around my waist and down over my ass. His touch is like fire—it's as if he's leaving behind burn marks on my skin.

I groan, acutely aware that I'm almost naked and he's fully dressed, my hard nipples rubbing against his tuxedo shirt. It's hot as hell, but I'm desperate to feel his skin against mine, so I unbutton his shirt, starting from the top.

A squeak escapes my throat as his mouth roams to my neck and over my right breast, his tongue flicking my nipple. I lose hold of the button. Adrian pauses and looks up at me, pulling back.

"Britt," he growls.

My voice is gone, but I manage to whisper, "Yes?"

He straightens and pulls my body against his, looking deep into my eyes.

"Do you want this? Really want this?"

Beneath layers of escalating desire, there's something else inside me. Fear. Desperation. This is the man I love, about to take all of me. Once we cross that line, there will be no going back. Not for me, anyway. There will be no easy congeniality at school events or pretending we're just friends. No denying I'm in love with him.

I wish I wasn't too chicken to ask how he feels.

"I really want this, A." My voice returns and with it, my ability to unbutton. My fingers go back to work on the buttons and soon he's free enough that I can pull his shirt out from his pants, exposing his hard, muscled abs, spiraling down to tuxedo pants, which are tented with his hard cock. "I've never wanted anything more."

"Thank fuck, because I'm not sure I could let you go right now. I would, of course, if you told me to stop."

"Don't stop," I say, mesmerized by the growing need in his voice.

He takes one of my hands and lowers it to his groin, moaning as I grasp the length of him through his pants. "Fuck." He groans.

I'm gonna let this go all the way. It already has, for me.

Adrian slides a hand down my stomach and slips a finger in between my legs, stroking back and forth. A moan comes out, and it doesn't even sound like me. Carnal desire takes over. I'll save freaking out for later. Adrian and I are together, touching each other, the heat and friction between us almost unbearable. It's my ultimate fantasy.

"I've been thinking about this." Adrian pushes his hand further into my underwear, pulsing two fingers inside of me. "So much more than is appropriate. I thought about how you'd feel on the inside."

"And how do I feel?" I rasp into his ear, shocked I can get a word out, moving my hips against his fingers.

"Fucking wet and amazing."

I groan and arch my back as his hand moves between my legs.

A shattering of glass on the counter startles both of us and we freeze.

Captain sits next to a broken wine glass spread across the counter. Watching us with his grumpy face. Judging. Giggles spill out of my mouth as my cat stares at us.

"Should we clean that up?" Adrian's voice is filled with dread.

"I have to." With great regret, I push Adrian's hand away. "I'll be quick. Get out of here, Captain." I wave my hand and the cat jumps off the counter and stalks away, his objective of interrupting us achieved.

Adrian's breathing heavy and I turn my back to him, picking up a few of the big pieces of glass and tossing them in the trash. When I grab paper towels, Adrian presses up against me from behind, gently running his hands up my sides, rubbing his groin against my ass.

"Hurry, baby." He buries his head in my neck and reaches around for one of my breasts, trapping me in a heated embrace against the counter. "You look so hot in those heels."

"You're not making this easy," I pant, unable to stop myself from grinding back against him. The counter is clean enough, and I reach down and tug my underwear down so my bare ass is pressed up against his cock, still covered with tuxedo pants. His free hand slips back between my legs and he fingers me, pulling me tighter against him.

I move against him, desperate for more. But I want to be in control. Tonight, I am in control. I spin around and step out of my underwear as I meet his eyes, which are hooded, pupils as big as his irises. I fumble with the button on his pants and push him back toward the kitchen table, my heels clicking on the hardwood floor.

"Sit," I whisper, just as I get the button undone and manage to slip his pants over his hips, freeing his erection, leaving only a thin fabric between us. I run my hand in between the elastic of his boxers and his abdomen, savoring the rippling of his muscles at my touch before tugging them down. His cock springs up against my hand.

Adrian flips a chair around, collapsing into it and looking up at me. I climb on top of him, lowering my naked body onto his. He groans when I make contact with him, moving my hips, skin against skin. He breathes heavily against my neck.

"I want you inside me, A. Please tell me you have protection?" Because I do not. I'm a single mom who doesn't date.

He leans back and looks into my eyes. "Fuck, Britt, I don't."

"I haven't been with someone in years," I say. "And I'm on the pill."

"I haven't been with anyone since . . ."

I cover his lips with mine, not wanting to hear the end of the sentence. "Then I want you inside me as you are."

Adrian moans and thrusts his tongue in my mouth. My need builds up so intensely, I feel like I might pass out. Should we move to the bedroom? Nah. I can't stop this. I can't move myself off of him. I fumble between us until the tip of him pushes against my opening, then I wiggle forward until he's inside me. So deep, so satisfying, I might die right here at my kitchen table.

"Hey. Are you good, baby?"

I open my eyes and Adrian's examining me, my face, my eyes, like I'm the love of his life. I don't know about that, but I'm thinking he is mine. I want to tell him I love him, that I'm more than good right now, that this is all I ever wanted.

Instead, I nod and kiss him. Adrian drives deep into me, pulsing in and out until I'm on the brink. He holds back until I come. Waves of pleasure drown me until I don't know who I am, where I am, what I'm doing.